Night's Secrets
by North Light36
Summary: A missing scene from Dragon Age: Inquisition. Warden Tabris and Zevran visit Leliana after the adventure with Hawke to explain to their friend just why they haven't been a part of her life for the last decade. The tale is not a pretty one. Ties in to my story, The End of the Tale, but can be read as a stand alone.


Disclaimer: Dragon Age belongs to Bioware who were sold into creative slavery to EA some time ago. I'm just borrowing their toys awhile.

_**Night's Secrets**_

Leliana tread the well worn stone stairs of Skyhold in silence, her feet guided by memory rather then her eyes. Her eyes were too busily fixed on the parchment in her hands. Not another report, not more information from her spy network. A letter that Kallian Lavellan had been kind enough to allow Leliana to keep.

A letter that did not even mention Leliana.

"She's alive... She's well... That should be enough for me, surely?" Leliana murmured, reaching up to take one of her ravens from their cage and letting the bird settle onto her shoulder. After a moment, she moved out onto the balcony. Even this late at night, she could hear Solas down in his workroom three floors below and knew well how easily elven hearing would pick up her words.

Leliana leaned against the stone wall and let the biting wind freeze her tears. "She's avoided me for ten years," she told the bird, trying to sound hard but hearing only grief in her tone. "Why should I expect her to come in person? Or even to send me a note. Saving the world together a decade ago shouldn't mean anything."

The cawing of her raven didn't quite mask the sound of a foot on stone and Leliana whirled around, her hand reaching for a bow she'd left on it's stand. Then it dropped, as a familiar elf met her eyes with his own golden gaze and shot her a cocky smile. Before Leliana could recover her wits enough to speak, Zevran raised a hand to signal she should remain silent and reached down to help another up onto the balcony.

Echo Tabris stood beside her lover seconds later, her emerald eyes more shadowed then Leliana remembered them and with the faintest of marks on her dark skin that could be either bruising or the first signs of blight corruption.

For the longest time, all three rogues stood in silence. Then Echo sat down on the stone railing and gave Leliana a smile so full of mischief that the Bard turned Spymaster felt her heart breaking all over again. "Forgive us for not using the door," she said lightly. "Zev thought it would be a good test of our skills, but from what Acqua said of the layout, I felt there was too much chance of being seen and causing a stir."

"Acqua?" Leliana shook her head, wondering not for the first time how it was that her wits always turned dull around this thief turned hero. _Because you love her_, whispered a cruel voice in her mind. Leliana ignored it as the name clicked. "Hawke." Her voice hardened a fraction. "You've been in contact with the Champion of Kirkwell and she what, simply didn't see fit to mention it? Did Varric know of this? Was that one more secret he kept?"

Now Echo's eyes went from sparkling emerald to frozen jade. "Acqua came to help you because she felt obligated to after Varric's message reached us. She came alone, against my advice, because she didn't want to drag us back into another mess." Bitterness tainted the Hero's words as she spat, "You've got your new Hero in that poor Dalish girl, Kallian. May the Creators protect her. I'm still dealing with the aftermath of the last time I was forced into saving a world that doesn't give a damn about me." She rose and turned back to the edge of the balcony. "If all we have for each other is accusations then forget it. Good luck, Sister Nightingale."

"Echo!" Leliana darted forward to grab hold of the warden and turned her friend back to look at her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Zevran's face tense and a hand drift to the dagger at his hip and knew she walked thin ice. "Echo," she repeated, lowering her voice. "That's not what I meant. By the Maker, Echo, it's been ten _years_. Ten years and barely a word from you. Nothing at _all_ in the last eight! Alistair couldn't find you. I couldn't find you. Do you even know Wynne died six years old? We hoped you'd show up for the funeral but... Even Sten made it back for that, but there was no sign of you!" Her voice shook slightly. "Either of you. A rumour here, a whisper there, nothing that could be confirmed! No evidence to prove you were even still alive!"

Now Echo's expression softened a little and she exchanged a look with Zevran. Then she sighed and stepped away from the balcony, moving over to sit beside the wall of Skyhold and gesturing for the other two to join her. "I'm sorry, Leli," she murmured when they had. "Disappearing like that, when I did, it was cruel. I don't regret leaving but, well... I should have done so differently."

"Why?" Leliana demanded. "Why did you leave at all? Why did you never even get in touch with us? Aside from a stiff and formal letter to a stranger, I mean."

Echo and Zevran exchanged another look, having a silent conversation that Leliana had never been able to translate. Finally Zevran sighed and pushed up his sleeve, revealing a dark blotch that, while it appeared to be fading, marred his tanned skin. "Because of me," he said flatly. "At first, because the Crows would not take a hint and leave us be. Then, because of this."

"The Darkspawn taint," Leliana breathed the words in horror, staring at her friend. "How? We were all so careful during the Blight. And we'd have seen signs of it before now in any case!"

"It wasn't during the Blight," Echo replied, her voice tight. "It happened after the mess that was Amaranthine. Zev had the Crows off our back, for the moment, Orghan was doing fine with the new recruits and I needed a break from the rest of the Wardens increasingly... insistent demands that I explain how the hell I survived slaying the archdemon." She closed her eyes and reached out to take Zevran's hand. "We met up and were planning our next move when... You've seen it, I'm sure. The Darkspawn aren't going back to their holes like they're meant to do after a Blight. And you know how they're drawn to a Warden's taint..."

Leliana could see where the story was going. "You were ambushed?"

"Yes," replied Zevran, a spark of fury in his eyes. Leliana knew how he prided himself on his skills and on keeping Echo safe. No doubt he saw the fact an ambush had happened as a personal insult.

"We were distracted at the time," Echo replied with a hint of rueful smile on her lips that told Leliana a good deal more then she wanted to know about 'how' they'd been so distracted. "In any case, we were ambushed and in the struggle... Well, we weren't exactly in armour at the time. Darkspawn blood in _my_ wounds isn't an issue but... Zev was tainted." Anger sparked in her face.

_No... Not anger. Rage,_ thought Leliana and pitied the Darkspawn suddenly.

"The rest of the fucking Wardens?" Echo's voice had taken on a tone Leliana had never heard in the elf's words before. "Oh, they were happy to help us. Happy to help us into cells and tell me they'd offer Zevran the Joining, _if_ I told them, in detail, what I'd done to survive killing the Archdemon."

"The bastards," Leliana replied, her hand itching for her bow again.

Echo nodded, then a hint of a smirk crossed her lips. "Bastards and fools. Morrigan would have said Alistair fitted right in among them."

"She would have," Leliana agreed, the comment surprising a laugh out of her despite her anger. "So... What happened? Did you tell them? I mean, you're both here so..."

Echo snorted. "You know me better then that, Leli," she scolded gently. "When have I ever gone along with other people's demands? You'd think the Wardens might have paid a little more attention to the 'escaped Fort Draken' part of our story."

"I always pay attention to that," Zevran chimed in, smirking wickedly. "My favourite was the part where Leliana and I meet you halfway, with you in nothing but your smalls and with a dagger in hand."

"That is a particular highlight of the story for me as well," Leliana agreed, feeling a smirk on her own lips.

Echo rolled her eyes at the pair of them. "Of course it is," she replied with a shake of her head. "And we're getting off topic, so Zev stop voicing your lustful daydreams and let me finish. Where was I?"

"Locked up by the wardens, with Zevran dying of taint," Leliana replied, her amusement burning back into hot anger. Sitting here, beside her dearest friends, it was easy to laugh, but at the same time, that part of this story was never going to be forgiven. Leliana would make the Wardens responsible _pay_ when this was over.

"Ah yes," Kallian replied. "Well, you know me, Leliana. I don't have any particular fondness for being locked up or threatened. It took time, but I weakened the bars of my cell until I could slip one out and squeeze through the gap. And since the Wardens had also failed to notice the part of the story where I _learnt how to do the Joining Ritual_ and were clearly determined to not be helpful, I just took what I needed and got Zev out." Her eyes were cool as she added, "Completing the Joining ritual took less time then it took the Wardens to save their pretty little fortress from burning to the ground. Recovering from nine months of fighting the taint took longer."

"Nine months?" Leliana turned to stare at Zevran.

"Ah yes," Zevran replied. "Fear not though, my dashing good looks have been recovering quickly."

Leliana forced a shaky smile, but reached across Echo to grasp Zevran's hand as well. "I will kill them for that," she hissed.

"We'll be sure to call on you when the time comes," Echo replied. "In any case, we had no choice but to flee into the Free Marches and try to blend in with the refugees while Zevran recovered. The Joining isn't a cure, but I knew it would buy us some time once Zevran survived it. He was barely back on his feet when the Crows came for us again. This time using Acqua Hawke and her friends. When we saw Anders with them, Zevran knocked me out..." Echo paused to glare at her lover. "For which I will continue to be pissed at him, and managed to charm Acqua Hawke into helping him escape the Crows. We couldn't be certain that Anders hadn't been sent to hunt for me, however, so we prepared to run. Then the Chantry blew up, we spilt up to help protect people from the madness and then offered Acqua and her lover company in getting the hell out of Kirkwell."

"Which is why Hawke didn't mention you to us," Leliana replied. "She had her Warden friend with her and we have a Warden among our number..."

Echo and Zevran nodded. "If we weren't dodging the Chantry and their Seekers hunting Acqua or Crows hunting Zev, we were dodging Wardens hunting me," she sighed.

"Why not reach out to Alistair?" Leliana asked. With a wince, she added, "I was working for the Chantry, so with Hawke among your number, I can see why you wouldn't come to me. But surely Alistair would have helped."

Echo rested her free hand on the hand Leliana was still using to hold onto Zevran's. "We were well aware that either of you would have aided us in a heartbeat. But your loyalities took enough of a beating during the Blight, when your Bardmaster came for you, and... Leli, your greatest strength is in your Faith. Alistair's comes from his faith too, but in his faith _in the Wardens_. How could I shatter that?"

"And even if we had, his charming wife is no stranger to betrayal," Zevran added with deceptive good humour. "So we took Acqua, Fenris and ourselves and did our talented best to disappear." The cheer vanished from his voice as he added, "Leaving you, and the others, was not easy for either of us, my dear Bard. Never think that it was."

"I understand that now," Leliana replied softly. "And the risk you took in coming to me tonight."

Echo smiled softly, sadly. "You've been doing good work here, Leli," she murmured. "I wish we could be a part of it."

"The Inquistion would protect you both if you stayed," Leliana replied. " Lavellan is a good woman. She'd see to it you were both safe if you stay. And Varric would adore having Hawke here, judging by the stories he's told."

Echo shook her head. "I know, and I believe you would do everything you could to guard us," she replied. "Didn't I always call on you and Zev when I needed eyes watching my back? But we've a limited time to work with, Leli. It's been ten years since my Joining. More than seven years since Zev's."

"And we learnt that Wardens rarely live more then thirty years past their joining," Leliana murmured. "That's what you meant in your letter, when you said that you and Zevran have your own battles to fight. You're not just looking for a cure for you, you're looking for one for Zevran too."

"And for revenge," Echo replied. "As much as I hate them, the Wardens serve a purpose. But that doesn't mean I don't plan to trim off some of the fat choking them." She fingered one of her own daggers. "But that's for later. Right now, we need a real cure and I can't turn away from that, even for you, Leli."

"And I can't ask either of you to do so," Leliana replied, releasing Zevran's hand at last and getting to her feet. "But I also won't send you both out into the cold and the dark. Come, we'll go to my room here. None will dare disturb us there and you can both get a few hours rest in a warm bed at least."

Echo hesitated. "Acqua and Fenris will come looking for us if we don't come back," she replied, starting to shake her head. "It's a kind offer but-"

"But nothing," Leliana replied firmly. "I will go to them myself and assure them of your safety. Then you both owe me a game of Wicked Grace and I don't intend to let you leave without collecting."

And so it was that Leliana spent her first easy night since the conclave in the company of her two dearest friends and a deck of cards. And when she awoke at dawn to find herself alone, she sung softly to herself as she went back to her own duties.

Reunions and revenge would have to wait until her friends came calling again. But that didn't mean she couldn't prepare for them. That was what she did now.


End file.
